March 08, 2012

Pantone, the color matching system used by the printing, textile and plastics industries, has teamed up with Sephora to put out a line of products in this year's official color, Tangerine Tango. (Thanks for the tip, Kayla.) I'm all for orange! I wouldn't be caught dead in orange lipstick, but my toes wouldn't mind some tangerine polish.

An interesting note: after I posted this Pantone chip craft project, I quickly received an email from Pantone’s Licensing and Trademark Department stating that they need to protect their licensees and intellectual property, and if I desire to extend the use of their intellectual property for commercial purposes, I should contact them to learn about current licensing terms. Apparently the licensing folks at Pantone keep very busy making deals with manufacturers and combing the internet for home crafters using old Pantone chips. I'm tempted to put a set of magnets up for sale and see if I get a cease and desist letter.

Wow, do you think all those crafters that sell Scrabble tile trinkets have to give Hasbro a cut of the action? Since you have to buy the chip books, I can't see how making something out of what you purchased already is such a big deal. I guess you needed to call them DIY "insert any description other than Pantone" chip magnets. *sigh*

And did you say "Bite me!"? I mean, r-e-a-l-l-y, most home crafters are using the chips for personal use, not as a commercial venture. What? They don't make enough money selling their exorbitantly priced color books? Chip users UNITE!

I don't really understand the deal with all their merch. If I want a red mug I will buy one. I don't need it to advertise pantone. And the colour of the year thing seems to be just a marketing exercise. Maybe I'm just being old and crabby

Apparently at some point Pantone figured out that non-artists didn't know they existed and now they are doing anything for a buck. However, one would think they would back off when there is free advertising. Obviously whomever they hired to track this stuff down wasn't required to use common sense. I have NEVER felt the need to buy any of their stuff. Frankly, I think most of it is tacky.